Collected Remixes

Anticon;
2007

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Anticon beatsmith Brendon Whitney, aka Alias, has tapped a broad array of
artists to fill out his Collected Remixes. Styles include the One AM
Radio's indie rock, John Vanderslices's folky soundscapes, Giardini Di Miro's
post-rock, Lali Puna's electro-pop, 13 & God's abstract hip-hop, and the
IDM of Christ. Given this diverse list of collaborators, you might expect
equally diverse results. That the album is in fact so uniform, playing like an
Alias solo effort that pales in comparison to last year's collaboration with
vocalist Tarsier, highlights his weaknesses as a producer.

As remixers go, Alias most resembles a juicer-- no matter what you put in,
the same homogeneous goop comes out. And "goop" isn't necessarily as
negative as it sounds; it simply alludes to the sneaking suspicion that Alias
isn't thinking about the possibilities inherent in the songs he's remixing,
only processing them into his own nonspecific instrumental hip-hop, which tends
to linger just this side of tedium.

Still, the results can be tasty or not according to what goes into the
blender. The swooning vocals of the One AM Radio's "What You Gave
Away" nestle prettily amid sputtering drums and snowy chimes. Lali Puna's
"Alienation" sounds fine chopped up into clip-clopping percussion and
live-wire synths. And Sixtoo's "Karmic Retribution/Funny Sticks" at
least provides some contrast with its chaotic squalls of noise. Bum ingredients
sour other passable concoctions: Why? appears on the remix of 13 & God's
"Into the Trees" and John Vanderslice appears on the remix of his
"Exodus Damage" (duh); both singers have reedy, almost bracing voices
that aren't well-suited to Alias's supa-smoove night moves.

The main problem with the album is that the bulk of it is virtually
indistinguishable. Alias fashions Lunz's "Clue" into a skittering,
mid-tempo synth glide, reworks Lucky Pierre's "Crush" into a
skittering, mid-tempo synth glide, and then, just to shake things up, turns
Giardini Di Miro's "Given Ground" into a skittering, mid-tempo synth
glide. If you're going to be a one-trick pony, it had better be a really good
trick. Alias's isn't bad, just severely limited and predictable, seeming always
to conjure the same glacial atmosphere with the same sound palette and the same
low-key dynamics. Any of these on their own might impress, but collected
together, they blur into anonymity, lacking the diversity or the nuance
necessary to uphold the weight of the album format.